Victory Monument Bangkok

Victory Monument

The victory monument sits in the middle of a large roundabout as a symbol of the Thai victory again the French in the Indo-China war. However, I have read that this was not much of a battle, didn't last long and to some, shouldn't really be considered a victory at all.

Regardless, the Victory Monument is well known and is a great place for cheap shopping and tasty street food. The overpass from the skytrain extends most of the way around the roundabout giving you a birds eye view of the traffic and what not happening below. It also gives you a choice of where to enter the mass of markets, people and street food stands circling underneath. Most sellers have a small stand, protected by a worn umbrella selling a specific product; like DVD's, shirts, jewelery, shoes. Each stand is wedged against another. Others just roll out a mat and sell their things from the ground. The prices seem cheap but really I came for the food.

Here you can pick up a decent selection of street food. From boat noodles to curries, handmade sushi to donuts; these are just some of the choices available. Half the fun is sitting down at a local food stand full of locals, many university type students, enjoying a meal. I opted for Hainanese chicken rice, not Thai food, and after some cut mango sprinkled with chili and sugar.

As with most parts of the city it is a great area to people watch with hip teenagers, families, monks, beggars and corporate workers just some of the types crammed into this diverse area.

Traffic Jam

You can access the Victory Monument from the Victory Monument Skytrain or any number of buses that pass through. The area seems to be a public transport intersection with a mass of traffic and never ending traffic jams. For practicality and speed, take the skytrain.

Thai curry in a bag

Those little curry bags are pretty amazing. I get them from the supermarket’s deli. One bag makes two or three meals: all I have to do is start the rice cooker and make enough rice for the day, and then add some curry in a bag. It’s not processed, they make it right there at the deli: I pick the best smelling and looking ones and the ladies put some in a little baggie for me.
I say I smell the curries first: I learnt that the hard way, after trying a new curry whose yellow colour I like, to later find out it was stinking out the fridge … why or why, thought I… turns out it was a ‘fish innards’ curry. Gross. Reminded me of Vietnamese rotten shrimp sauce a bit, that smell.
Left that curry for Dan, but even he couldn’t eat it. If you’ve followed our Vietnam blog, you know Dan will eat anything. Well, not fish innards curry it turns out. Thai name: Thai pla. I highly recommend it.

Otherwise our usual curry in a bag favourites are: green curry – not for those who can’t handle spicy food though. It makes me cry and sniffle but I keep going back to it, because it’s delicious. Also, Mosaman curry, Yellow curry, Panang curry and pork-and-basil minced meat which is not a curry but just as good. And also bloody spicy.
I’m finding out that hot food is like everything else: it takes practice. I used to not be able to handle anything spicy… never had spicy food growing up, my taste buds were very sensitive. When I was 18 I went and lived in England for a semester, and my lovely housemates who were from Sri Lanka would often cook for everyone in the house… they had to make me my own little saucepan where they cooked the meat with what they thought was no chillies or spice at all, just for me. So sweet. I still couldn’t handle it though, I think they poured spices in there without even realizing, spices that don’t even count for people who munch on chillies like I munch on cucumbers. Now I can eat very spicy food, and only cry a little. My old housemates would be so proud. Don’t know how happy I would be living in Thailand if I hadn’t sorted that out though to be honest.
So, I get three or four of those curry bags a week, and they cost a dollar each. And that’s all we spend on food. There’s street food also, but that’s about the same price.
To put it into perspective, I have a grande latte from Starbucks here and then. That costs 90 bahts, or 3 dollars. So, one latte costs me the same as 6 home cooked meals…
Gotta wonder if it’s worth it.

A cheap Sunday in Bangkok

Video games in the Emporium

Bangkok is a great city to explore even if you are on a budget.

Today was a great day with clear blue skies and the sun beaming down so it was a must to get outside and enjoy it. Walking is an ideal, and free, way to explore the city. I grabbed my ipod and made my way to the Emporium shopping complex on Sukhumvit Road; accessed from Phrom Phong Skytrain. After a 20 minute walk from home the air-conditioning was a welcome relief from the humidity outside. Usually, I am not that interested in shopping centers and get bored and impatient quickly but I find the Emporium is a good way to start the day. On the 6th floor is the Thailand Creative and Design Centre which has varying exhibitions throughout the year. At the moment there is a Thai-UK Digital festival focusing on the video game industry from the two countries. The exhibition displays the evolution of the industry from PONG and PACMAN to the current technology of today. There is a separate room where you can play a range of different consoles on big screens; including some of the old classics. The centre is always free.

The shopping complex has a cinema, supermarket, foodcourt and an array of retail shops to keep you busy but on a budget I decide to head to the Kinokuniya bookstore which houses a great selection of English books. Here you can find anything you are after; a welcome relief from life in Hanoi where it was a struggle to get your hands on a good book. The difference from home is that here you can find a great selection of Thai literature and history books (all translated). I note down the titles of the books I like.

The Skytrain is a very cheap way to get around town with a single trip ranging from 15-40 baht. I met Celine at Chit Lom and we walked across to Central World which sells itself as the largest lifestyle shopping destination in Bangkok. It is definitely big. On the 7th floor is a great food court offering, among other things, a decent selection of Thai food at decent prices. If you go for a late lunch you may grab a sofa by the window giving you great views over the Siam area; any earlier and they are always taken. Celine had a noddle soup with fish balls, pork slices and won tons while I took the yellow curry with pork. You can grab a meal from around 40-60 baht.

Me and Rooney. Getting your photo with cardboard Rooney seemed to be the craze so I had to be a part of it.

Out the front of Central World was a street football tournament sponsored by ESPN and Tiger beer. A grandstand was set up and those without a seat were eagerly on tippy toes trying to catch a glimpse of the action. Away from the match there were other football related activities to take part in. Fun and free.

Football accuracy shot

After I hit the gym at our apartment, then I took the Metro to Lumphini station to explore the other side of Lumphini park; I covered the first part last week. I really enjoy this space, as do countless others, who at 7pm are still jogging and walking the leafy park surrounded by trees and lakes. At 5pm you can catch the daily aerobics classes in the park which host a few hundred Thais and is fun to see.

Street Football

This was my day today but of course there are countless other ways to explore the city on a budget. With cheap food, great parks and markets, shopping centres, free museums and temples you can experience much of what the city has to offer without breaking the bank.

Walking Bangkok # 1: Lumphini Park & Patpong Night Market

Patpong night bazaar

Walking is a great way to explore a city. Yesterday, I took a few hour stroll through Lumphini Park and Silom Road, taking in the Patpong markets.

Lumphini Park is a huge space of lakes, walkways and well kept lawns that make for a relaxing reprieve from Bangkok’s city streets. In the early evening the park is full of joggers and Thai aerobics sessions. Bouncing along to a dance beat a few hundred Thais lined the walkways following the instructor’s steps in pretty decent unison. There were actually 5 instructors, spread out along the front of the walkway, to cater for all the people. It was great to watch. They are apparently there every evening at 5pm.

Aerobics in Lumphini Park

The park has many activities as well with a swimming pool, tennis courts; peddle boats, a playground and a youth centre just to name a few. There are many benches as well so you can take a break, people watch and admire the contrasting views of trees in the foreground and Bangkok’s cityscape towering behind.

Lumphini Park

After a decent walk through some of the park I crossed over to Silom road where small markets line the streets with a diverse selection of things for sale. A guy selling nun chucks, ninja stars and knives has his stall alongside a young girl’s stand dedicated solely to Hello Kitty. Not far along a sex toys sit beside statues of Buddha. The markets on Silom road merge into Patpong Road, the infamous night life district.

Patpong night market

The Patpong night market, as it is called, is an area of contrasts. Most of the market stands are what you would expect at any market; t-shirts, sunglasses, watches, bags and so on. For that reason they pull the normal crowds where old couples, families with kids and travelers alike wander the streets looking for a bargain. However, the seediness of the street is very much apparent with touts flashing ‘SEX DVD’ cards in my face every twenty meters. Others have pictures of naked women or a worn lamented card with ‘SEX SHOW”; whispering in broken English as they follow you through the markets, ‘you want show, ping-pong, look, no pay, very good’. It gets tiring after a while but the real tiredness is in the sex shows bars themselves. The buildings are generally run down and as you pass the entrance you get a quick glimpse through the doorways; a mass of young Thai girls in matching bikini’s standing on stage, gripping a pole looking bored and uninterested.

Celine and I decided to venture into one of these places a few years ago and once through the door they turned into vultures devouring the fresh meat, pouncing on us with ten hungry hands rubbing us both from every angle. The vultures could tell we were beginners and without knowing the etiquette it was pretty uncomfortable. We left soon after.

The park and the night market made a good two hours walk. On the other side of Lumphini Park is the Suan Lum night bazaar but that is for next time. You can access Lumphini Park and the Patpong night market from the Silom Metro or Sala Daeng BTS. Also, to access Lumphini Park or the Suan Lum night bazaar, get off at the Lumphini Metro station.

Living like a local in Bangkok: # 1

Bangkok traffic

My 30 minute ride to work on a rickety old Bangkok bus is often the highlight of my day. I don’t like to ride in taxis, although they are cheap, convenient and trustworthy; which is more than I can say about the taxis in Hanoi. The sky train is great but it is modern and does not give an authentic Asian feel. The open-air buses have aged character and once I jump on I really feel like I am in Bangkok.

Bangkok open-air bus

I take my seat and a lady in a standard blue uniform comes to give me a ticket. It usually takes me a few times to explain where I am going. My trip costs 8 Baht. Catching the bus is a great way to weave into the local culture through observation. I enjoy people watching; seeing locals going about their normal lives and really showing no interest in me. Today I found a seat at the back of the bus, sitting in the middle with a guy on either side. The one on my left was an older guy, wide mouthed and asleep with his head resting on the window. He had three big bags of mangoes and one bag of flowers at his feet. He was wearing a large fake pink emerald ring on his index finger. It seemed a bit out of place. The guy on my right was much younger, muscular, with a spray on type grey t-shirt. He wore army pants and big black boots. He had a laptop strap around his neck, the laptop resting in his lap. He was also sleeping, his head bent forward. Sitting in the middle meant I had nothing to hold on to. This was needed as the driver often slammed on his brakes, jolting me along the seat, pulling up just short of the vehicle in front. The guy to my right woke suddenly, still drunk with sleep, before dozing off again.

Bangkok Bus

The bus shook as we drove along, gears grinding loudly. The seats are old but all in decent condition. The back of some seats have graffiti tags. The bus has wooden floorboards and a few poles to hold onto for support. On the ceiling are blue and green revolving fans, a brief reprieve from the humid Bangkok weather. We stop and start our way through the busy late afternoon traffic.

The open-air bus also gives you a bird’s eye view of everything that is happening on the street outside. There is so much to see in Bangkok. My eyes darted from image to image trying to take in the scene. We passed street food and markets, shopping centers and large Buddha’s. People were everywhere going about their day. Canals run adjacent to the main road with small houses packed along the water. In many places there is construction on building sites. Services take to the streets and on one corner there were two men, one repairing shoes, the other fixing watches and an old women working tirelessly on a sewing machine on the pavement only a meter from the main road. Next to them was a young guy selling DVD’s and a girl selling fruit. As we crawled along smells from the street vendors would find us on the bus.

Bangkok canal

The ride, somehow, relaxes me and puts me in a good mood before I go off and teach my class. Living in a different culture requires an effort to do what the locals do. Catching the open-air buses is a simple, easy and in my opinion enjoyable way of doing this.

Chidlom complex, central Bangkok

Ok, I'm loving Bangkok a lot more now that I work and lead an active life again. I wake up early, go to work (air conned sky train, modern and all). My way to work is awesome. I go through two shopping malls: I grab a cinnamon latte at the cafe, or a Boost smoothie if I'm too hot from my oh so tiring 20 minutes commute (I'm being sarcastic, 20 minutes commute is the dream). So yes, working in a shopping center has its downfalls: apparently it makes you spend more. But right now, I don't have anything to spend so I just look and I'm pretty happy with that. I spray myself with a different perfume everyday at the beauty stands (they have everything here. La Mer. Clarins. YSL. Mac. Bobbi Brown. everything.) and I pick up the newspaper at the newstand. I go all the way up the mall to where my school is, and drink my coffee + read the paper at my desk, before the lessons start. I've joined a yoga studio in the same shopping complex, I can leave my work out bag at work and pick it up there even if I don't work that day: everything is at the same place. Chidlom is my HQ.

I've joined a Thai school where I'm going to study four hours a week, again it's in a shopping center - it seems to me everything is, in Bangkok. This one is five minutes away from home, and five minutes away from work. It's all on the same sky train line, three stops up or down really. I would have never dreamed to be near everything like that, in a city so big I still can't quite grasp the sheer size of it.

I feel incredibly lucky. Soon I'll be going up and down the city, as I'm a Corporate teacher, I'll be going to the companies where staff needs to be trained, but still Chidlom will be my HQ: where I have a desk, a locker with my stuff and a yoga studio. All right there. It's wonderful!

Teaching English Abroad while studying

Studying in Hanoi.......maybe

I have been living abroad and teaching English for close to two years. While teaching English and travelling to some really cool places I have been studying my not so cool commerce degree.

Favourite Beach in Thailand; Ton Sai Beach Krabi

With the global financial crisis in full swing and an aching desire to travel and experience different cultures it took a few months of research for my wife and I to realize that teaching English was the best option. While in Sydney we completed an online TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course with i-to-i. It was a piece of cake, really, and pretty good value for money. After that we had to decide where to go. We wanted to travel to Asia but there was the issue of me not having completed my degree. Many countries want a degree as a minimum requirement when applying for a job. Some, however, are not as strict as others and it was for this reason that we chose Hanoi in Vietnam. Work wasn’t guaranteed but we thought that if we arrived and presented ourselves there would be opportunities. There was!

Hanoi's West Lake

Both Celine and I had jobs in Vietnam within days of arriving. This was without any teaching experience and only a TEFL certificate and a happy smile to offer. We had continuous offers for work for the year and a half we were there and were earning really good money by the time we left (saving more than we were in Sydney). For more details see Teaching English in Hanoi.

Vietnamese market

What’s better, I could study my university degree, which I never had real time to properly do in Sydney, while living in Hanoi. I study at Deakin University in Melbourne via distance education. There are other universities that offer distance education degrees in Australia and I assume other western countries as well. I send my assignments online, watch lectures online and sat my exams in Hanoi. This has been a win-win situation for me; writing assignments while exploring any number of cool Hanoi cafes. In our year and a half in Hanoi we had a great quality of life and we were able to visit many other Asian countries.

Now, we have moved to Thailand where I have often read of a requirement for a degree in order to get a teaching job. I have not finished my degree yet; however have found a good job teaching English. My degree allows me to sit exams in Thailand as well as many other countries around the world.

So, after nearly two years my wife and I have seen and learnt so many great things, giving us a wonderful authentic experience of living in Vietnam and now Thailand. If you bring a good attitude to teaching and can sell yourself as a friendly, reliable person I think everything is else is easy. Getting a job has never been a problem (despite not having a degree); living off teaching wages is no issue (even possibilities for saving) and the experiences are just awesome.

So, if you want a career break, can’t find a job at home, want to study abroad but don’t want to work in bars then consider teaching English. It allows you to travel the world.